美欧环境社会学理论比较分析与展望

Comparative Analysis on American and European Environmental Sociology Theories and Their Prospect

美欧主要环境社会学理论的探究对象都是环境与社会的互动关系,但是基于对环境概念的不同理解而产生了不同的研究取向。美国环境社会学理论更多地传承了古典社会学理论的思想,致力于寻求学科合法化和独立的依据;而欧洲环境社会学理论则更多地借鉴了现代社会学理论,并不谋求学科独立地位。前者从多维角度解释环境问题产生及其恶化的原因,而后者则关注如何通过环境改革来提升环境质量。

Through reviewing main environmental sociology theories in U.S.and Europe,this article firstly introduces the background before the birth of environmental sociology.Secondly,it analyzes the similarities and differences between American and European environmental sociology theories and finds out that their shared research subject is to explore the interaction relationship between environment and society.However,due to different understandings of the concept of environment,it causes different research approaches.Environmental sociology theories in U.S.build more on classical sociological theories and legitimize this sub-discipline,while environmental sociology theories in Europe never have such ambition;U.S.environmental sociology theories focus on the explanations of environmental problem and the consequences from multi-perspectives,while European sociology theories emphasize how to improve environmental quality through environmental reform.After that,this article summarizes the factors causing these differences and lessons for Chinese environmental sociology.Finally,the basic guidelines for global environmental sociology theories are discussed.